Monday 8 January 2007

Chicken in a Pot

Yet more from Tana Ramsay! I'm really loving this book so far. There seem to be dishes and recipes for all family occasions. And it's good to stretch my 'repetoire' a little. I get bored cooking the same thing week in week out, and I'm sure The Family must get bored if the same dishes are served up all of the time.

Chicken in a Pot
Serves 6

2 tbsp olive oil
150g streaky bacon, cut into 1cm pieces
400g shallots (I used 2 medium onions)
2kg whole chicken
3 medium carrots cut into chunks
3 medium leeks, cut into chunks
250 ml wine (recipe calls for white, but I had red so used that instead)
500 ml chicken stock
400 ml tin tomatoes
1 tbsp fresh thyme (though of course I had to be different and use rosemary, as that's what we have)
3 bay leaves
200g mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp flour
25g butter

  • Preheat oven to 200C.
  • Heat the olive oil in a casserole pot on the stove (ideally you need a deep pot with a lid). Fry the bacon and shallots/onions until they just start to colour. Tip into a plate, and reserve for later.
  • Place the chicken in the pot, and brown on all side. Put to one side - on the plate with the bacon and onions would be a good place!
  • Put the carrots and leeks in the casserole, and fry for 5 mins. Then return the chicken, bacon and onions/shallots to the pot.
  • Pour the wine, chicken stock and chopped tomatoes over the chicken. Mix in the chopped herbs and bay leaves.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

  • Bring to the boil on the stove, before putting on well fitting lid and placing casserole in the oven for 30 minutes.
  • Take casserole out of oven, baste chicken, and add the chopped mushrooms to the pot.
  • Return to oven for another 30 minutes.
  • After cooking time is finished, take the casserole out of the oven. Put the chicken on a serving plate, and return to the oven (now switched off) while you make the gravy.
  • Strain veggies out of cooking juices. Put the veg into a warm serving plate. Reserve the liquid to make the gravy.
  • Make a paste with the butter and flour. Put the casserole on a medium heat on the stove, stirring the butter and flour paste into the cooking juices
  • Simmer for a couple of minutes to allow the gravy to thicken.
  • Serve, ideally with mashed potatoes, and the veg/bacon mix that was cooked with the chicken.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

This was so lovely. I served it with mashed kumura, and the veg mix as suggested. I love roast chicken, but usually do it very simply - i.e. shove in the oven bare and roast! The gravy was maybe a bit richer than the recipe intended, as I used red wine rather than white. But it was probably the tastiest gravy I've made with chicken. And not a gravy granule in site!!! Very annoyingly, MacMan was called into work early, and so didn't get to sample the dinner. However, this did mean I had plenty of chicken and veg left to use for stock! Not really what I had in mind though.

No comments: